The Decima has become central to Jose Mourinho's side's season with La Liga all-but-mathematically beyond their reach and Varane hopes that the Blancos can do what they failed to do earlier in the season and beat BVB.

The French centre-back said to Uefa.com: "Winning the Champions League is the dream. But Dortmund are a good very team and it is not by chance that they have made it this far.

"We know from the group stage that they have a quality team and I'll have to be strong and play very well."

The 19-year-old is expected to line up against Dortmund on Wednesday and he reflected on his first impressions of Europe's elite competition - including Zinedine Zidane's winning strike against Bayer Leverkusen 11 years ago.

"Zidane's volley is the first thing that comes to mind," said Varane. "I have memories of watching the Champions League as a kid in France. We all supported different teams and they were intense moments. Great memories."

The France international has emerged as one of Europe's leading young talents in recent months and Varane believes his capacity to keep it simple has led to being favoured by coach Jose Mourinho.

"The thing with Mourinho is he asks you to do what you are good at, but not to over-do it," he added. "When you're young you want to show what you can do, but sometimes you have to learn not to over-complicate things."